Search Results for: Belgium

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has called on the European Commission to frame an action plan on simplifying red tape for the fishing industry, “reducing their bureaucratic workload and the restrictions that bear down on fishermen”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Commission rapid reaction consumer alert service RASFF has warned of the detection of unauthorised colouring annatto/bixin/norbixin E 160b in red palm oil imported to France via Belgium.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A HEAVYWEIGHT European international consortium will spend Euro 20 million on trying to develop commercially-viable flat plastic light sources, that could be moulded to fit spaces in homes and offices. The OLLA project (‘high brightness Organic Light-emitting diodes for information technology and Lighting Applications’) aims to build on basic research into these materials.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers have compromised on the final shape of a directive reducing sulphur content in marine fuels. The result is legislation that permits higher sulphur usage than the parliament wanted, cutting its marine fuels content to 1.5% by 2007, for all vessels in the Baltic, the North Sea, and the English Channel, and passenger ships in all EU seas and oceans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) governments could be given the power to demand waste metal and scrap buyers hand over VAT rather than their suppliers, under proposed reforms tabled by the European Commission. It wants changes to the EU sixth VAT directive making this system available on demand to member states for the industry, even though it conflicts with the standard EU rule that suppliers pay VAT.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CORNER shops and off licences harmed by ‘booze cruise’ alcohol imports from the continent have been offered hope by an order to the European Commission to draft an increase of the European Union’s (EU) minimum excise duty rates.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIVISIONS over the EU sugar regime reforms have been clarified at a European Union (EU) Council of Ministers (agriculture) meeting. British, Danish, German, Swedish, Latvian and Maltese delegations wanted “rapid reform, to make the sector more competitive”, though concerns of ex-European colonies in the African Pacific Caribbean (ACP) bloc “should be taken into account”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW European Union (EU)-funded research project is helping the European dye industry survive against intense overseas competition by developing new ecologically-sound niche products. The Euro 10 million SOPHIED project should wrap up next year. Its aims, said an in house technical note, are:

*Identifying new dye molecules which are less toxic and synthesised biotechnologically for high added value markets;

*Creating new safe enzyme-assisted processes for the production of existing dyes;

*Inventing new clean-up technologies for detoxifying dye-contaminated wastewaters.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SMUGGLERS are liable for customs duties on goods presented to excise officials in the European Union, which are used to conceal more valuable undeclared tobacco, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Captured smugglers – allowed into the country in a controlled delivery operation – had tried to sneak into Belgium 7 million cigarettes behind 29 cases of cooking utensils.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SMUGGLERS are liable for customs duties on goods they present to excise officials in the European Union, used to conceal more valuable undeclared cargo, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Captured smugglers – allowed into the country in a controlled delivery operation – had tried to sneak into Belgium 7 million cigarettes behind 29 cases of cooking utensils.…